News: Cenk Başboğaoğlu
Reactions continue against the imprisonment of BirGün reporter İsmail Arı. The BirGün newspaper Reader Initiative organized a press conference in front of the BirGün Ankara Representative Office.
BirGün newspaper Ankara Representative Nurcan Gökdemir stated in her speech, "Our reporter İsmail Arı has been imprisoned for the second time in a year. He was sent to prison once again on grounds such as the suspicion of flight and tampering with evidence. His 75-day imprisonment period had ended just 4 months ago. Upon his release, he continued his journalism at BirGün from where he left off," she said.
'WHERE IS THE SUSPICION OF FLIGHT?'
"İsmail is a journalist who goes to give his statement when an investigation is opened against him," Gökdemir said, adding, "There is no legally explainable side to his arrest within the scope of an investigation where he went to give his statement of his own volition. Where is the suspicion of flight here? What is the material justification for the suspicion of tampering with evidence? İsmail is newly married and sees the inmates in prison more than he sees his wife. We do not accept this lawlessness, this injustice, this persecution," she reacted.
'TURKEY IS BEING DRAGGED TOWARD A PLACE WITHOUT ELECTIONS OR OPPOSITION'
Nurcan Gökdemir also said the following in her speech:
"On the other hand, we are aware that this is not a process limited only to İsmail and BirGün. The space for democracy in the country is narrowing day by day. Turkey is being dragged toward a place without elections or opposition. Last year, TELE 1 was shut down, and Halk TV was closed just a few days ago. Access to T24 has been blocked. Thousands of accounts are being censored on social media. In addition to İsmail, Merdan Yanardağ, Murat Ağırel, Tuğba Tekerek, Fatih Ergin, Şaban Sevinç, Selahattin Günday, Derya Okatan, and many other journalists are in prison as detainees. Likewise, presidential candidates and elected mayors are as well. Turkey is going through a period of heavy political pressure, and journalists are getting their share of it. A will that includes the public must be shown against this. We invite all our colleagues and readers to the meetings to be held in 14 cities on Saturday. We can only win democracy and freedoms if we stand together and grow our solidarity."
'THESE ARRESTS ARE AN INTIMIDATION AGAINST JOURNALISTS'
Hamiyet Kızıler read the statement made on behalf of the BirGün newspaper Reader Initiative.
Kızıler included the following statements in her declaration:
"BirGün newspaper reporter İsmail Arı, whose readers we are, has been imprisoned for the second time in a year. Let us say at the beginning what we will say at the end: journalism is not a crime. İsmail was imprisoned in the spring. He spent 75 days in prison. Now he has been sent to prison again in the autumn. They want to make him spend another season in prison; they do not want İsmail to practice his profession.
The imprisonment of İsmail Arı is unacceptable. These arrests are an intimidation against journalists. The country has been shaken by a fund scandal for a month. Politicians and bureaucrats are all involved. Now it is understood that they want to prevent the emergence of that list, which is known to contain very mysterious names and is said to be in front of Erdoğan at the Palace.
However, it should be known that while poverty, corruption, and injustice in the country are deepening, and the wheel of bribery and rent-seeking continues to turn rapidly, journalists will not remain silent. They will continue to tell and write the truth with persistence and insistence. The message given today through İsmail Arı is clear: 'Do not write about the fund scandal, do not write about corruption, do not expose the rent-seeking order, make injustices invisible.' Journalism in Turkey has been tested for many years with pressures, lawsuits, detentions, and arrests. Because journalism is not just a profession in these lands; it is a struggle to be the voice of the people. BirGün newspaper is also a part of this struggle. Since the day it was founded, it has represented a journalistic understanding that stands by the people, not capital; that grows the truth, not darkness; that multiplies the word, not silence. We know that the employees of the few remaining independent newspapers do not just report news, they defend the public's right to receive information. This is exactly why İsmail Arı is being targeted.
They do not want İsmail to report on corruption files, they want him to ignore the injustice experienced by those who lost their relatives in the earthquake, and they do not want him to write about the darkness of sects, communities, and foundations fattened by public resources. There is only one reason for our friend İsmail's imprisonment once again: his pursuit of the truth with the responsibility he feels toward his people and his profession. No pressure or intimidation can stop us from following the path we know. The news channels and websites we follow are being shut down one by one, trustees are being appointed. Halk TV, Tele1, T24, Evrensel...
'PROTECT THE RIGHT TO NEWS'
At the end of her statement, Kızıler said, "After İsmail was arrested, he said, 'The judge didn't even listen, he interrupted the lawyers, they are arresting me once again for a crime that doesn't even carry a prison sentence.' No pressure, no threat, no intimidation can turn either this public or the press workers away from this path. End this unlawful detention immediately. Release our friend İsmail Arı and the imprisoned journalists. This is our call to the public: protect the right to news. Do not allow the truth to be silenced," she stated.
News Source: 12punto
